


Demons Against Child Abuse

by Lady_Phenyx



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Transcendence (Gravity Falls), Gen, Transcendence AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-05 03:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11569233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Phenyx/pseuds/Lady_Phenyx
Summary: Dipper's been a demon for a long time, and he's got quite a few reputations. The one he's proudest of is a reputation for protecting children. But he still never expected to be summoned to protect a girl who's been traumatized into being unable to speak - and whose abuser won't face justice until she can.(A Transcendence AU fic based on a random request, or, all the DACA stories in one place for easier reading.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wish I remembered who gave me this prompt, but here it is:  
> Just want to say I love what you've done with the Trancendance AU, hope you keep adding onto this collection for a long time
> 
> Prompt Idea: A young girl (think 13) is badly assaulted by a presumed stranger/possible family member. They have a suspect locked up but no solid proof. The only way to find the real criminal is for her to give a statement but she's so traumatized that she can't talk.
> 
> In a desperate move her psychologist summons Dreambender, remembering he is friendly towards children, in hopes he can help her overcome the trauma and finally find peace.
> 
> Went a little sideways and longer than expected, but it happens.

No one was quite sure what had happened to Naomi Caligor.

 

There was a pretty good idea – she'd only stopped talking, not communicating altogether, though she had shut down pretty hard – but without their key witness, it was going to be a lot harder to put the person responsible away for it, despite the fact that Naomi had pointed him out very emphatically. They needed her testimony, or it was all going to fall apart.

 

Dr. Aisha Yesson knew that was the reason everyone was putting pressure on her to get Naomi talking again, but she didn't agree with it.

 

Her job was to help Naomi heal. And pressuring her to talk, to identify who hurt her before she was ready, wasn't going to help.

 

Under normal circumstances, she would have taken Naomi out for rides. The usual centaur rules against being ridden had exceptions for loved ones and children, and it almost always helped to get Aisha's clients, all of whom were children, more comfortable with her after a trot through the wooded trails that backed her office, trails kept safe with wards and spellguards so the children could talk as freely there as they did in her office.

 

But the fact of the matter was, that the child didn't feel safe anywhere anymore. It didn't matter how many wards, how many spells, walls, locks, there were between Naomi and the rest of the world; she was still convinced her tormentors could find their way in through anything.

 

Given all that had happened, Aisha couldn't blame her.

 

It wasn't easy to understand Naomi when she tried to communicate – Naomi had been, before all of this, a sparkling, active child, or so Aisha was told, but now she was quiet, and she jumped at too-quick movements, and Aisha knew she hadn't found all Naomi's new triggers yet – and her communication was slow, when she could be persuaded to try.

 

At least Naomi finally trusted Aisha. It hadn't been an easy road, and Aisha had bent quite a few rules – she really shouldn't have let Naomi comb and braid her tail, or lean up against her horse half while they both sat on the floor, but it had been worth it to see how Naomi's face had lit up, no matter how briefly. It had helped that Naomi was (or would be, if all this weren't happening) deep into a horse crazy phase, and despite knowing she shouldn't take too much pride in her physical appearance, Aisha knew that her horse half, that of a sleek and dark brown Arabian, was almost irresistible to a little girl who took so much joy in horses and fussing over hair and coats and combs.

 

It was one of the few times Naomi seemed to resemble the child she was, so Aisha was willing to allow it.

 

If only there was a way to help Naomi feel safe again...but so long as her tormenter still walked free (on bail, and watched, but it was still far too free) and had supporters, that didn't seem likely. Sessions with Aisha were only going to do so much while that fact remained, and all the therapy she provided, both orthodox and not, weren't going to help Naomi recover while the child knew damn well it wasn't over yet.

 

After the third time Naomi and her family had been kept up all night by people driving by their home, yelling threats and keeping all of them awake and in fear but with the police unable to do anything, too slow to respond to do any good even if they had, Aisha knew she had to do something drastic, even if she was 'just' the therapist.

 

But what?

 

Legal means weren't working, and the waste of carbon that had assaulted a thirteen year old didn't respect any authority, only power and things bigger and badder than he was, and there weren't many things he'd admit fell into that category if Aisha's estimation of him was right, but they had to make Naomi feel safe.

 

Aisha couldn't say anything about her job or Naomi to anyone, of course, but she could vent a little to a trusted friend.

 

“I just wish I could find her a bodyguard,” she said, gazing into her coffee as if it held all the answers. “I can't say more than that, but I just...like...do you remember there were bikers who protected kids? Something like that. I wish there was someone I could call on to help this child. Someone bigger and badder than the people she's afraid of.”

 

Her friend looked on the edge of speaking, stirring their tea, glancing around nervously, even through they were in Aisha's kitchen, away from any eavesdroppers.

 

Rose hesitated a few more times before she finally sighed, reaching for her purse. “Look, I could get in a lot of trouble if anybody finds out about this, so keep it quiet, okay?” she said.

 

Aisha snorted, toying with the edge of her headscarf. “I just came perilously close to revealing more than I should about a patient, I think we're even.”

 

“No, seriously,” Rose said, digging into her purse for a pencil and paper. “You know I have...odd taste in religion, right?”

 

“Yeah, but I never asked questions,” Aisha answered, confused. “It's your business, not mine.”

 

Rose snorted. “Wish more people thought that way...well...I'm part of the Circle of the Dreamer's Star. Ever hear of them?”

 

Aisha's eyes went wide for a moment before she recovered. “I...yeah, but why...?”

 

Rose sighed. “Well, our Lord is...he's fond of children. Not like that! Like, actually cares about them. The rumors about how he takes care of children are all true. It's possible...I haven't made any deals with Him, but you could, to help your patient. He's broken up human trafficking rings before, and saved kids from all kinds of bad situations. Watches over them and...well, protects them. I...could help you figure out a proper deal to make. And if you use our circle, then He should be calmer when He comes. He's having a good period right now, where He listens and isn't...well, isn't as demonic as one would expect.”

 

“I'll...I'll have to think about it,” Aisha said frankly. “But...thank you. Offering that must have been difficult. Just...let me think about it.”

 

 

Two days later, and Aisha was borrowing Rose's computer to actually look deeper into it.

 

She didn't quite dare look up the demon on her own internet or computer, for fear of someone tracking down people who looked up information on the Dreambender and coming after her license.

 

Aisha recognized that she was being a tad paranoid, but when you dealt with children who'd been abused and whose abusers would do anything, felt entitled to do whatever it took to get them back, then you did end up paranoid and it usually paid off.

 

There was a reason her house and office both had so much security, both mundane and magic, after all.

 

Still...Aisha was glad she hadn't eaten before starting her research, as quite a bit of it was putting her off the idea of food.

 

Mostly, she was thankful she'd gone full vegetarian a few years ago, as just the thought of meat was sickening right now.

 

But Rose had been right...there was that one thread throughout all the articles that mentioned children, all the eyewitness accounts, all the stories. Sometimes incredulous, sometimes victorious, sometimes matter of fact, they all repeated the same thing: _Alcor refused to harm the children. Alcor protected the children. Alcor has never willingly harmed a child or seen one come to harm if he could prevent it._

 

It was...well, it was reassuring, a possibility that Rose could be right, that this might work, if they could find something to offer the demon in exchange for his protection.

 

And, of course, if they could get Naomi and her family to agree. That part might be more difficult than getting the demon to agree to this plan, if Rose was to be believed.

 

First things first. Aisha looked up at her friend, taking a deep breath. “You're sure you can summon Alcor and he won't be furious right away? He'll hear us out?” she asked

 

Rose nodded, the tired nod of someone who has explained something five times already but expects to explain it five times more. “He'll recognize the circle,” she said. “And the chant. Do you have any ideas for what to offer Him?”

 

“Well...I'd hoped maybe weekly offerings of food might work?” Aisha said dubiously. “For now, at least.”

 

“I have heard our Lord is fond of ice cream,” Rose said, adjusting the felt rose headband she always wore that held back her curls. “We usually sacrifice candy and snacks to Him. It's considered polite to share your favorites. Regular food might work as well, though.”

 

“The demon likes ice cream,” Aisha repeated blankly. “Right. Why not. I guess I'm going to go buy some ice cream. Can you set up while I do? Because I guess we're doing this.”

 

“Get some Fruit Drops while you're at it,” Rose replied. “The blackberry vanilla ones. They're my favorite, so I usually sacrifice them. I hope you realize I'm breaking all kinds of rules here. We're not supposed to bother our Lord without good reason, or summon him by ourselves.”

 

“Well, this is a damn good reason,” Aisha muttered, trotting out of the house quickly.

 

 

It took Aisha three trips to bring all the ice cream into the house, even with the insulated bags Rose teasingly referred to as her 'saddlebags'.

 

“You do realize one carton probably would have been enough for negotiations, right?” Rose asked, torn between amusement and disbelief.

 

Aisha shrugged, stretching out her human back as she sat down the last of the ice cream. Her car may have been modified for her to drive, but it still wasn't the most comfortable thing to use. “Look, I get you know more about Alcor than I do, but I'm not risking him saying no just because I got the wrong flavor of ice cream,” she said tartly. “Or because he was insulted I didn't get enough. This is tricky enough as it is.”

 

“Plus, it was on sale,” she added after a moment.

 

Rose stared at her blankly for a few moments as Aisha fussed with the ice cream, getting it all lined up neatly.

 

“I'm on a budget, okay?” Aisha snapped. “They don't exactly pay me the big bucks.”

 

“...demonology on a dime,” Rose giggled, and Aisha glanced up. They were only able to hold eye contact for a second before they both began giggling hysterically.

 

“Okay, yeah. Nerves. Think we can still do this?” Aisha asked after she'd recovered, rubbing at her forehead, her back hoof pawing gently at the ground.

 

“I'm sure of it,” Rose said. “Let's do this. Come on, there's a big freezer in the basement we can put all this ice cream in, by where we'll do the summoning – I'll help you carry it.”

 

 

Aisha stood back as Rose laid out a circle in the basement – a fully finished basement, well lit and with a pretty alter in the center of one wall – and lit the candles.

 

She waited quietly as Rose chanted, huddling against herself when the temperature of the room suddenly dropped.

 

When the swirl of black smoke appeared in the center of the circle, it took thinking hard about Naomi, the black circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, the haunted, frightened look that always seemed to hover in her eyes whenever they spoke, to keep Aisha there and not galloping from the basement.

 

Aisha did her best to ride out the wave of terror that rushed over her as the demon appeared, to set it aside and think rationally.

 

To distract herself, she took stock of the demon her friend worshiped. Surprisingly human-like, and a young one at that, though she hoped Naomi wouldn't be put off by the fact that he presented as male. The eyes, wings, and pointed ears might help with that, even as Aisha was vaguely surprised at herself for the worry. This was a demon, how he presented didn't matter unless he frightened Naomi.

 

Aisha waited as Alcor heard her friend out, surprisingly patient and attentive. He glanced over at Aisha a few times during the quick explanation, sitting back in midair as Aisha stepped forward at her cue.

 

“So, you've something to ask of me regarding a child?” Alcor asked after a few moments of staring at each other in silence.

 

Aisha took a deep breath and nodded. “Her name is Naomi,” she said, “And I want to make a deal with you to watch over her.”

 

Alcor smirked, and though it was not completely unkind, it still held a hard edge of mockery. “Do you have any idea how many people have tried to get me to do just that? Well, admittedly, most of them were powerful and they tried to enslave me into doing it, but still.”

 

“I want to make a deal for it,” Aisha said. “I didn't come unprepared. It's just...she's afraid. All the time. The people who hurt her aren't behind bars yet, and she has to testify to put them away, but she's too traumatized to speak. And they won't leave her alone. She needs someone more powerful on her side that she can trust.”

 

“And you called on a demon,” Alcor mocked, but his eyes weren't focused on her, looking out into the distance instead.

 

“You're supposed to protect children,” Aisha snapped, something about the demon's flippant attitude getting under her skin, hoof clicking sharply against the floor. “She needs protection and I can't find anyone who will! They keep brushing us both off and she hasn't slept in a week and no one will help us!”

 

“I didn't say I wouldn't help,” Alcor said mildly.

 

Aisha sputtered to a stop, looking up at Alcor in shock. For his part, the demon was examining his claws, seemingly indifferent, but there was a tenseness to his posture that belied that facade, his wings twitching even as the rest of him remained still.

 

“First rule of dealing with demons,” the demon said shortly. “Assume nothing. Now then. Let's make a proper deal, and you can tell me the rest.”

 

Aisha blinked a few times, having not really expected the demon to go along with this and still expecting some kind of trick.

 

But...Rose worshiped this demon. Literally. If for that alone, Aisha was going to trust it...for the moment.

 

 

The deal for right now was simple – Alcor got to pick a carton of ice cream from the supply Aisha had bought, and he'd stay and hear them out in return, to negotiate the whys and hows and boundaries and payments.

 

Negotiating and talking this out was going to take longer than the summons gave him, apparently.

 

Alcor summoned up a golden spoon and sat back in mid air, munching his ice cream directly from the carton as Aisha laid out what she wanted and why Naomi needed this.

 

She had notes and charts. If she was going to do something, then Aisha was going to do it right, thank you.

 

“And you've cleared this with her parents?” Alcor asked after Aisha had finished, gesturing with his spoon. “I mean, I'm willing, but I'd rather not have to deal with terrifying the kid and her parents more, know what I mean?”

 

Aisha paused before speaking. “You're...nothing like what I expected,” she said. “But not yet, I didn't want to tell them I was getting Naomi a protector unless I was for certain. And, of course, there was the chance of this going horribly wrong, as there always is with demons.”

 

Alcor hummed noncommittally as he sat back in the air, tapping the spoon against his almost empty ice cream. “So why do you want me to protect her? Why not just let me go after him and cut out the middle man?”

 

“He deserves to have to live with what he's done and rot in jail,” Aisha said firmly. “Or at least have everyone know what a repulsive piece of slime he is.”

 

Alcor paused, looking her over before a grin began to stretch his mouth.

 

Aisha continued to rant, unnoticing the demon's sudden interest, her tail lashing her flanks as she ranted. “Naomi is going to need to know she's safe even after that bastard is put away or dead! This kind of thing takes years to recover from, but they'll pull funding for her therapy quick as they can once the trial's over or she starts speaking on a regular basis again, she needs someone she can trust! And even if...”

 

“I'll do it,” Alcor said suddenly, making Aisha stammer to a halt for a second time. His spoon and the nearly empty carton disappeared as Alcor leaned forward until he was eye level with Aisha, his grin softening. “You've convinced me. I'll do it. Let's talk the rest of the terms and details.”

 

 

To say Naomi's parents, Blythe and Maurice, were skeptical when Aisha brought the whole thing up was an understatement. But at the same time, they were desperate.

 

There had been more people during the night, they told her. People driving up and down the street, blatantly watching the house and yelling abuse out of their windows.

 

A few of them even came up to the door and banged on it, refusing to leave for hours, demanding Blythe and Maurice hand Naomi over to them.

 

They had called the police, of course, but by the time the cops got there, everyone had fled...and apart from the ones who'd come up to the door, the attackers been on public property, so there wasn't much the police could do.

 

A few meals a week and letting a demon into their home – one that was giving his word, for what that was worth (Alcor twisted deals with the best of them, but he was recorded as doing what he said he would, for keeping his word, and he had been very specific in his promise) to protect Naomi, to behave, to help and not to harm – seemed a fair price for relief from the nightmare they were trapped in.

 

 

Upstairs, Dipper materialized in the hallway outside Naomi's room without fanfare. He paused, a pointed ear twitching as he listened for her parent's consent – he planned on watching over this child, permission or not, but it would make things easier – before he knocked on her door.

 

From inside, he heard a soft sniffle, followed by the door opening a crack.

 

Dipper didn't bother with the door, which was only going to last another hundred years or so anyway, instead shimmering into existence in the room beyond.

 

The girl who had returned to the bed inside hadn't noticed him yet, still focused on settling back into her former position, curled up against the wall, so he took the moment to glance around the room. Soft lavender paint on the walls with sparkling white trim, white painted bed, dresser, nightstand, and desk, the tops of which were cluttered with the detritus of a cheerful, happy child, though most of it was dusty and neglected at this point.

 

There were fairy lights strung around and through the headboard and a few mobiles hanging from the ceiling, and dark pink curtains framed the window, while posters of various movies dotted the walls.

 

It was a bright, cheerfully happy room, clouded with oppressive sadness evident only to someone like Dipper, who could see the fear tainting everything within.

 

It was difficult not to react to that in some way.

 

The girl, Naomi, hadn't noticed Dipper yet, but she was starting to look up, surprise coloring her aura when the door remained closed.

 

Then she caught sight of Dipper out of the corner of her eye and jumped, scooting back in a panic to press against the corner of the room, watching him with wide eyes, pale and trembling.

 

Dipper bowed and smiled, careful to keep his mouth closed over his fangs. He was also careful to stay on the other side of the room, leaving Naomi lots of space.

 

“Hello, Naomi,” he said softly. “My name is Alcor. Dr. Yesson brought me here, to help keep you safe.”

 

Naomi didn't speak, her eyes flickering between Dipper and the door, and he remembered abruptly that Aisha had mentioned that Naomi rarely spoke now.

 

“She's downstairs,” he continued after a pause. “Talking to your parents. They should be calling for you soon. I wanted to introduce myself a little early. Is this form okay? I can be another shape if it bothers you. Like a cat, maybe?”

 

Naomi shook her head, and Dipper watched her colors, reading her emotions the best he could. “This form is okay, for now?” he asked to clarify. “Okay. But if it starts to bother you, let me know. Changing shape is easy. And don't worry, you don't have to speak if you're not ready.”

 

His eyes darted around the room, calculating, before he pointed at the small music box on Naomi's nightstand. “Make you a deal – I'll make it so you can think at me rather than talking and I'll hear what you want to tell me, in exchange for that music box. What do you think?”

 

Naomi considered it for a moment before she nodded.

 

“Okay. I'm going to reach for it now, okay? Usually I'd need a handshake or something similar to seal the deal, but...”

 

Naomi held up a hand, shakily, and Dipper smiled. He raised a loose fist and offered it. “Fistbump?”

 

Naomi had the faintest hint of a smile as she lightly tapped her fist against Dipper's, eyes going wide at the flash of blue fire the touch produced.

 

Dipper left a necklace with a star pendant in the music box's place. “If you decide you want to have me protect you, then you can contact me whenever you want with this necklace. And I'll always be able to watch over you while you're wearing it, even if I'm not there physically.”

 

Naomi reached out hesitantly to pick up the necklace, fingering the star gently.

 

“You don't have to put it on yet,” Dipper said softly. “I think your parents are ready to meet me. Ready to go downstairs?”

 

Naomi continued to stare at the star necklace, tracing over the pendant, for an uncomfortable stretch of time before she made up her mind.

 

She fastened the necklace around her throat quickly before sliding off the bed, reaching shyly for Dipper's hand and dragging him after her down the stairs like an overlarge and surprised balloon.

 

It seemed Naomi was more ready for a protector – any protector – than they'd thought.


	2. Chapter 2

For all Dipper had been verified by Dr. Yesson, had gotten her approval, had had Naomi accept the necklace with his symbol on it, he still wasn't sure if she would actually call on him when she needed him, and was still a bit surprised at how quickly Naomi had latched onto him as a protector.

 

He was...very aware, sometimes, of his reputation outside Gravity Falls. Time didn't help it any, either. He dare not let people know much about the good times, and word of the bad times spread quickly.

 

Dipper was in a period where he didn't have a reincarnation of a loved one to look after, as the few currently incarnated had loving homes, and he took advantage of that to keep an eye on Naomi from the Mindscape. Naomi was taking her classes at home for now, through her tablet, and was afraid to leave her home, so he didn't have to worry about someone at school or out and about spotting him even as he worried about how much time she spent trapped in a home turned prison.

 

That part...he may have been a bit out of touch, but he did remember how much time he and Mabel had spent outdoors. Maybe Naomi wasn't a fan of hanging around outside, or going out, but being too afraid to leave...even he knew that was very, very bad.

 

But was it just what had happened that kept Naomi trapped inside, or was it the harassment Aisha had mentioned? Or both?

 

Well, Dipper couldn't change the past, but if he focused, with his omniscience, he could see it.

 

...somehow, he had a feeling he was going to regret this.

 

 

He did. A small corner of his Fields was going to be recovering from his anger for some time, but better it did than the Flock or Naomi, after he found out details he hadn't wanted to know about what had happened and what was happening. Of course, his first instinct was to go after the one responsible, but Aisha had specifically asked he waited until after the trial, should it not go well, for that, so...

 

After that, he started watching Naomi and her family closer than before. A few Nightmares rounded out the watch schedule when he was called off on a summons, and though they didn't need it (since they would do as their Master asked, and willingly) he brought back treats and bribes for those who took watch duty.

 

 

Dipper intended to wait until Naomi called for him, really he did. Forcing himself into her space wasn't going to help anybody, just make her feel even worse, and make sure she wouldn't trust him, if he remembered anything about being human.

 

But when he felt her having a nightmare...well. Aisha's deal – and the one he'd made with Naomi's parents, to take some of the heat off Aisha – covered nightmares and helping with them, and they'd talked about it Naomi, so popping in to eat it wasn't violating her boundaries.

 

He still wasn't prepared for Naomi to blink awake while he was finishing off her nightmare, blinking up at him sleepily as he wiped the last of it from his mouth.

 

They both froze, and Dipper swallowed at the fear that immediately colored Naomi's aura. “You...you were having a nightmare,” he said quietly. “I'm a dream demon. I eat nightmares. So. Yeah. Do you want me to go?”

 

Naomi blinked at him a few more times before she slowly shook her head, sitting up in bed and rubbing at her eyes, a smile playing around the corners of her mouth.

 

“Have trouble sleeping after a nightmare?” Dipper asked sympathetically, crossing his legs in midair. His dangling coat tails seemed to amuse Naomi, so he twitched his wings a few extra times to make them dance.

 

She made a few motions, the thoughts she sent to Dipper a jumble, as she clutched the necklace of his symbol she still wore, confusing the signs she was trying to make.

 

“How'd I know you were having a nightmare?” Dipper translated. She nodded, and Dipper smiled, half sheepish. “I...well, the deal _was_ for me to watch over you.”

 

_How long...?_ Naomi thought at him, clearer now as she woke up if still a bit unsure, as they hadn't practiced communicating much yet, her hands forming the signs as she thought the words, and Dipper shrugged.

 

“I may or may not have been hanging out in the Mindscape around your house,” Dipper said, trying to be casual. “Not really watching, but keeping an eye out for you and your family.”

 

_Creepy_ Naomi thought back, curling up more on the bed, though a hint of a smile teased the corners of her mouth, as though she liked the idea of someone watching out for them.

 

“Allow me to remind you that I am a demon,” Dipper said haughtily, nose in the air and hands on hips. “Creepy is part of the job.”

 

Naomi stuck out her tongue at him, and Dipper grinned, holding up both hands. “Oh, you wanna go, huh? Here comes the tickle demon!”

 

Naomi squealed with laughter as Dipper tickled her sides before she suddenly froze. ' _No, stop!_ ' she cried out silently, and Dipper was on the other side of the room in a flash, hands up where she could see them, watching anxiously as Naomi gathered herself.

 

' _I..._ ' she paused, at a loss, though her colors were apologetic, a mess of guilt and pain and surprise and Dipper floated down to her eye level, though he kept himself across the room, giving her space.

 

“Hey, it's okay,” he said softly. “You can say no, yanno? You get to choose that. And everbody's supposed to listen. I may be a demon, but I'm still gonna listen. Unlike some people.”

 

Naomi looked at her pajama clad knees and shook her head, silently, tears threatening to spill. “He was wrong,” Dipper said, and she glanced up at the anger in his voice, freezing again. He sighed, shaking his head. “You're not ready for my ranting,” he said, hair smoothing and ears slowly returning to their proper position from poofing like an angry cat's fur and laying flat to his head in anger. “I'm not angry at you, I'm angry at _him._ Pretty sad, though, isn't it? When the demon manages to remember consent stuff better than the human.”

 

Dipper took another deep breath as Naomi relaxed. “You should probably try to go back to sleep,” Dipper said. Naomi glanced up at him and back to her bed, crumpling the sheets between her fingers.

 

_'...stay?'_ she asked silently. Dipper was the one to blink in surprise this time before he smiled soothingly, careful not to show his teeth. A small motion had his violin appear in a swirl of black smoke, and he began to play a lullaby.

 

Naomi smiled, sweet and sleepy, and settled back down, falling into the first dreamless sleep she'd had in months.

 

 

Alcor was still there when Naomi woke the next morning, refreshed and ready for the day, a feeling she hadn't had since this whole nightmare had begun.

 

The demon was floating in the corner of the room, his violin in his lap, hands folded over it and eyes closed, head tilted forward as though he slept, though Dr. Yesson had said Alcor didn't need to sleep.

 

As if he felt Naomi watching him, Alcor cracked open his eyes, smiling. “Good morning,” he greeted casually. “Meet you downstairs for breakfast?”

 

Naomi's smile was brighter than the sunlight.

 

 

Breakfast was...a little awkward, but it was also the first time in months that Naomi had been so animated, so her parents were willing to accept the demon at the table (especially as he seemed to be doing his best to remember his manners this morning).

 

They were 'paying' him in food, yes, but this was the first meal he'd sat down and eaten with them, rather than eating his share whenever he had the time.

 

It was a little awkward, a little stilted, but...it was still the best breakfast they'd had in months. (Even if the demon did eat twice as many pancakes as the other adults.)

 

 

From that moment on, Naomi and Alcor were together every day. He refused to go to her appointments with Aisha with her, as those were private, but Naomi had to just touch her pendant or mentally reach out to him for the demon to appear, and he spent much of the day floating around the Caligor house, playing with Naomi or listening to her of just hanging about.

 

To her parent's surprise, he was amazingly patient with her, and they were able to settle into a sort of routine with the demon fairly quickly and easily.

 

Though it did take them awhile to stop jumping when they turned and he was suddenly there, where a minute ago the room had been empty. They were still a little on guard with him, and surprised at how quickly Naomi trusted him, but...they were trying. And luckily, since they were holding up their end of the bargain, allowing him freely into their home and sharing food, Alcor didn't seem to hold their skittishness against them.

 

 

A week after Alcor had first appeared at the breakfast table, the entire family was woken at two in the morning.

 

A car roared by, the people inside already screaming. It tore a circle in the street and turned back and screeched to a halt in the street outside their home. Doors slammed as the riders poured out, leaving only the driver behind in the car.

 

The stormed up the pretty pathway that Naomi and her father had worked so hard on, deliberately trampling and grinding the flowers and crystals underfoot on their way to crowd around the door, pounding on it and screaming for the people inside to give Naomi up to them, for someone to get out here, threats and vileness pouring from them like poison.

 

Up in her room, Naomi curled into a tight ball, hidden in her closet, struggling not to cry, praying they wouldn't break in this time. She clutched the pendant Alcor had given her so tightly it threatened to break skin, and in one spot did, blood dampening the point of a wing. “Alcor, hurry,” she whispered, unaware the words had even managed to slip out of her throat.

 

Bright golden eyes blinked open in the darkness of her closet, and Naomi lunged forward to grab onto Alcor's coat. _Here, they're here, they're here_ she whispered over and over in her mind, thrown to her anchor, the only words she could form, a mantra she couldn't think beyond..

 

“I know,” Alcor whispered back. “I'm going to go take care of it. Here,” he said, and another set of eyes blinked open, something that was soft black wool and wings and eldrich was nudging its way under Naomi's arm. “This is Lolonja. She'll stay with you until I get back.”

 

Naomi nodded tearfully and clutched at the sheep. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she trusted Alcor- who listened, who respected her 'no', who was there for her – and if he trusted this Lolonja, then she would too.

 

Alcor hesitated for a split second before he pulled off his coat, wrapping it around Naomi's trembling form. It was heavy and thick and soft and warm, warm from the body that had been wearing it, and Naomi freed a hand to clutch the edge as the sheep nuzzled against her forehead.

 

Alcor pressed a kiss to her hair and disappeared.

 

Outside, the shouting for Naomi and her parents changed to screaming. She clung closer to the sheep and buried her face in its wool. _It's okay. It's okay. Alcor isn't the one screaming. Alcor is the reason other people scream,_ Noami repeated to herself. As if it heard and understood, the nightmare baaed softly.

 

 

Dipper blipped downstairs, looking out at the people threatening _his_ new family, _his_ people, people under _his_ protection, through the door.

 

Unseen by their tormentors, Naomi's parents were in the living room, calling the police. He met their eyes, filled with pain and fear, and nodded once.

 

Naomi's mother, Blythe, pointed silently to the mouthpiece of the phone, and Dipper nodded again, in understanding.

 

The cops weren't going to understand the rationale behind summoning the Dreambender to protect their child. Well, probably – sometimes humans surprised even Dipper, with all his experience.

 

But for now...they were going to be too slow. Dipper looked back outside and narrowed his eyes. A quick gesture had shadows gathering around the house, forcing the people outside away from the door with shouts of outrage as they were physically forced away from the house.

 

Another twist of his hand and a surge of power gave some of the Flock the strength to come onto the physical plane, and the shouts of outrage turned to screams as the nightmares reared and threatened, baring teeth and claws and wings. The screams turned and ran as the nightmares lunged.

 

Dipper cleared his throat as the last of the car doors slammed and the sound of squealing tires faded away. “You...may want to check the pictures your security camera got before you hand them over,” he said. “I think my nightmares stayed out of their sight, but...”

 

“Those bastards always stay out of its sights,” Naomi's dad, Maurice, grumbled as he retrieved the footage and skimmed through it. “Or it's always 'not clear enough' for the police.”

 

There were sirens outside, and all three paused. “And there they are, right on cue,” Maurice said sourly. “Too late to do anything useful. As usual.”

 

“I'll be back once they're gone,” Dipper promised, he and his nightmares already fading away.

 

 

The police were, as Maurice had predicted, sympathetic but of little help. They did take a copy of the security footage to try and see who they could identify, but they weren't hopeful.

 

Though on the other hand, they did say this was more for the trial – it fell under harassment by proxy and broke the restraining order. Well, considering what had happened tonight, more like shattered it into a million pieces if they could prove it was connected to everything else...and since they had recently upgraded to a camera that caught sound, that part just became easier to prove.

 

Though Dipper was going to have to do a little editing on that video later, just to make sure the nightmares weren't visible.

 

 

Alcor reappeared as soon as the police were gone, watching them go with an unreadable expression. “I'm going to check on Naomi again,” he said. “The nightmares will be back to watch the house tonight. I...have a feeling it'll make her feel better to have them visibly around tonight.”

 

“Naomi's not the only one,” Blythe said wearily. “Sometimes they've come back, two or three times in one night, after the police leave. I think we'll all feel better if you...if you stayed with Naomi tonight.”

 

Alcor nodded, then paused. He looked over the two for a moment. They were sitting on the couch, propping each other up, as exhausted in their own ways as their daughter, feeling helpless to stop this or help her.

 

After that moment of consideration, he held out his hand, two necklaces dangling from his outspread fingers, solid chains with a star pendant hanging from them. “Here,” he said. “These aren't as personalized as the one I gave Naomi, but I can still see through them, and you can call me with them. Hold it if you can, and think of me, or call my name, and I'll be able to come to you no matter what.”

 

Blythe smiled after both stared blankly for a moment, reaching out and accepting the necklaces. “Thank you,” she said softly, simply, though her eyes said she understood the gift they'd been given.

 

Alcor nodded once, eyes softening, before he disappeared.

 

 

Dipper appeared in Naomi's room, finding her still clutching the patient Lolonja and wrapped in his jacket, though they had emerged from the closet at some point.

 

Naomi staggered forward and threw her arms around the demon, burying her face in his chest and holding tight.

 

Dipper stroked her hair, holding her with the other arm. “It's okay,” he said quietly. “My Flock is going to patrol the rest of the night. Is it alright if I stay here tonight?”

 

Naomi nodded against him, clutching tighter as his wings wrapped around them. “It's going to be okay,” he promised. He rested his cheek against her hair, holding her a little tighter.

 

It would be okay. Dipper would make sure of it.


	3. Chapter 3

Naomi and her family were in a strange place, emotionally, after the latest attack. On the one hand, it was another blow against them, another thing to add to the every growing list of paranoia.

 

On the other...Alcor came through. He protected them, just as he'd said he would.

 

It was dangerous, to have a demon around the house – and not just for the obvious reasons. Despite everything, there were certain factions, certain people who, if they found out what, who, the Caligor family had turned to...

 

The least thing they might do was to try and take Naomi away. Cleansings and worse were the other options.

 

Then again...seeing as it was Alcor...well. Who knew. The same demon that killed cults and destroyed landmasses was also known for protecting children and, sometimes, if he was in the right mood, the helpless.

 

Aisha had promised she would find a way to smooth things over, so Naomi could have Alcor with her for the most important test so far – the trial.

 

None of them were sure if Naomi could get up there, into the stand, face her tormenter and his flying monkeys and point to them without backup.

 

But the complications of getting Alcor into the courtroom were many, starting with not frightening the jury and going upwards in difficulty from there.

 

Blythe and Maurice had a bad feeling that people suspected something was up, despite how discrete they were trying to be. Oh, not their neighbors – most of their neighbors were firmly on their side, if only because they were grateful that most of the drive-bys had stopped, grateful enough they weren't questioning how or why they had finally gotten a break too hard.

 

But there were a few around...a few who still blamed victims, no matter how young, some of whom were not quite neighbors but lived far too close, others who had been in those cars...who obviously wondered just what drove the attackers from the house.

 

“If anyone guesses,” Alcor declared, during their latest meeting of Aisha and parents and the one social worker who had been allowed in on the secret, who understood about doing whatever it took to protect a child, who had once been involved with Realize a Dream, “I showed up on my own. I've done that sort of thing before. I'm unpredictable like that. But if someone tries to come after you about this...you call me. Okay? You're my people now, and nobody messes with my people. Blythe and Maurice have my symbol, but if you call my name, I'll hear you and I'll come.”

 

Grateful he was willing to cover that much, they'd agreed...even if a few of them were a bit worried about just what he meant by 'my people'.

 

But it still didn't solve the problem of how to get him into the courtroom.

 

Demons weren't very welcome in courtrooms. There were times when people thought they would make good lawyers, and in some ways it almost made sense – people did make quite a few jokes about demons and lawyers and their resemblances – but despite those, well, lawyers weren't demons.

 

Demons were cheaper in the short run, but much more expensive in the long run, for one.

 

The best lawyer currently alive...for lack of a better word...was a vampire, so it wasn't the fact that demons were nonhuman that disqualified them. Mr. Slant had been alive for so long, he not only knew all the laws, but had helped write most of them, and could pass as human (though he no longer put forth much effort to do so).

 

Demons found the loopholes, sure...but the loopholes they found were in their favor, and it was the rare demon that would do what was right for their client. No, demons were concerned for themselves alone, and by and large made terrible lawyers.

 

There wasn't a law against it per say, but...by now...nearly every courtroom was warded against them, and you needed to warn people before you brought one in at the very least.

 

The demon in question didn't seem concerned.

 

“There isn't a ward that will keep me out for long,” he pointed out to Aisha when she brought it up, Naomi distracted for the moment. The thought that she couldn't take Alcor into court with her was causing her distress, and weakening the resolve that had been strengthened by knowing she had Alcor in her corner whenever she needed him. “And I'm...I'm me. If I randomly showed up to watch over Naomi, then what would stop me from following her where she needed me?”

 

“They still don't want to listen to her unless she speaks,” Aisha complained, tail switching. Her back hoof stomped, momentarily startled as she had forgotten the barrettes Naomi had braided into her tail until they smacked her flank. “Nevermind that there's all sorts of ways to communicate other than verbal, and Naomi is getting very good at sign language, everyone is still pressing for her to speak. It's ridiculous!”

 

She paused to take a deep breath, tugging on her headscarf. “At least she's talking a little, ever since you came. But if we can't get you in there...we both know she has to stop relying so heavily on you sooner or later, though I do hope you won't stop being her friend when that happens, but we also both know she's not near ready to face that...that...* _ahem_ * without you backing her up.”

 

“Alright,” Alcor said, watching Aisha pace. “A few options come to mind.”

 

“Well, I'm all ears, as the saying goes,” she countered, front hoof pawing the ground before she forced it to still. “Because I'm low on ideas at them moment.”

 

“One, I go in pretending to be Naomi's new therapy pet,” Alcor said.

 

Aisha frowned, interrupting. “Really? I'd think you'd consider that below your dignity, to have to play the part of an animal.”

 

Alcor grinned, far too many of this teeth on display, and set all of Aisha's instincts screaming before she could stop them, and only being half human and having been around the demon this long kept her from shying and bolting from that smile and those teeth.

 

“There are many things I've done that are technically below my dignity,” Alcor said calmly, the grin easing back into something more human, ears flickering with something like embarrassment at the slip. “I would rather not, but I will, if it's the best way to do this. I don't have the cultural taboo about being seen as an animal that you do. I'd rather put the fear of...well, of me into the people who are harassing Naomi, but...”

 

“But some would try more after knowing,” Aisha acknowledged. “Unless...”

 

She was silent for a minute, thinking her plan over, tail swishing as she picked apart her idea for problems while Alcor waited, surprisingly patient. “I'll have to talk to Naomi's parents,” Aisha finally declared.

 

Alcor paused, before suddenly slapping himself in the face. “You do realize we've overlooked the most obvious solution,” he said, sounding equal parts embarrassed, frustrated, and amused.

 

Aisha paused, looking over her shoulder at the demon, who gave her a lopsided grin. “People aren't supposed to talk about what happens in a courtroom, so officially, I can make sure it's off the record. But what's to keep us from making a deal so no one can talk about it besides the people who know I'll be there?”

 

A grimace passed over Aisha's face. “Let's...think about the wording of that one for a bit, but not discard it yet. We may need to use it before this is all over.”

 

 

Of course, court was going to have to wait yet. Naomi speaking wasn't the only thing the courts were waiting for, just one of the most important for her case.

 

Privately...and when speaking with Aisha...Dipper agreed with the therapist. With magic as abundant as it had been for the many, many, many years since the Transcendence, insisting upon the spoken word – or, in the case of those who had never been able to speak, written word – was ridiculous in this age of varied communication.

 

But law and courts were some of the last to change, the longest to stick to traditions, and so for now, they were going to have to play things their way. Dipper much rather would have gone after the man himself, but...everyone else wanted to see him traditionally punished, and for the child and his new friends' sake, he would play along.

 

But the man was getting years of nightmares after he was put away, at the very least.

 

In the meantime...Naomi was easy to love, and enjoyed being around Dipper, not just for the protection he provided. She was trying to speak again, but she would only manage a word or two at most before her voice would betray her and lock shut again. And the few words she was managing were few and far between, only managed when she felt safe, like she had before all of this began.

 

Aisha and Dipper and her parents all reassured Naomi over and over it was okay. She didn't have to speak. If she never spoke again, they'd find another way to put her attacker behind bars. Her best friend, her new brother (at least, as she thought of him, though she didn't quite dare 'tell' him yet) was a demon, if the law wouldn't protect her than he would.

 

Now that the drive-byes had ceased – there had been a few more attempts for Dipper to shut down before they got the hint (there were rumors over just what the Caligor family had protecting them, but no one was able to prove it, and in this day and age, in this place, it wasn't something you just went throwing about at will, and given that, despite laws against it, the general attitude of the moment about demons was 'if you are idiotic enough to summon it, at least make sure the only one it eats is you', most didn't care – of if they did, if they did believe the rumors, more than a few understood why a family might take such extreme measures) – Naomi and her parents were trying to leave the house more often.

 

Not that they were going out much. They weren't ready for that. But a little trip to the park, a walk down the street, just being out of the house...that they were ready to try.

 

And Naomi was even happier when her Alcor came with them. The first few trips to the empty park he came along as a huge black dog, though he toned down his eyes to a natural honey brown, a shade so light it was nearly gold. But under the onslaught of wide, pleading eyes, Alcor accompanied them the next time they went out as a human, brown of eye and rounded of ear, and if anyone questioned where the young man watching over Naomi came from they didn't ask.

 

It may have been more dangerous than the dog-form, and raised more questions the Caligors couldn't answer, but it made Naomi so happy at a time when she had so little to be happy about, even the demon couldn't say no to her.

 

Things were going well enough that, when the invitation came to go to the annual family picnic – a tradition the Caligors had not gone to last year, because of, well, everything – they decided to go...and RSVPed that they would be bringing a guest along, for Naomi's sake.

 

 

“You know, this would probably go over better if I were in dog form,” Alcor mentioned as the car pulled into the park from his spot in the backseat, human disguise in place and Naomi holding onto his hand in a death grip. “Easier to explain, for one.”

 

Maurice, in the front passenger seat, looked back over his shoulder at the demon and shrugged. Mentally, he still had to take a moment to remind himself that the young man in his backseat was a literal, actual demon, but Alcor's disguise was, for the moment, flawless – though it had taken quite awhile to talk him down from the still-too-formal polo and khakis that was apparently the demon's idea of casual wear.

 

Having Naomi present the t-shirt (printed to look like a tuxedo) to the demon helped.

 

“Maybe,” he agreed. “But Naomi wants you human.”

 

Alcor looked down at Naomi, who was still clutching his hand in nerves but smiling faintly, catching on to the teasing. “You couldn't go the easy route, could you, kid? I'm way scarier as a dog than a human, and therapy dogs? All over the place. Therapy people, not so much.”

 

Naomi giggled and squeezed Alcor's hand again, and he heard her 'say', shyly, _Cousin scared of dogs. Like you like this._

 

He sighed, though not unhappily. “That's what I figured,” he said.

 

“Oh no...” Blythe said softly from the driver's seat as the car shut down, and everyone else went on high alert.

 

“I was promised they wouldn't be here...” Maurice said, just as dismayed as his wife.

 

“What...” Alcor began, and Maurice was answering him before he could finish the question.

 

“Aunt Karen and her children. We've been no contact with them before all of this, and they sent us some...some pretty vile messages when it all went down. They can be pretty toxic. So how do we vote? Do we stay anyway and leave the minute they start, or do we leave now?”

 

They looked over at Blythe, who sighed. “I want to know who thought it would be a good idea to invite them,” she said. “Because we seriously do not need this.”

 

Naomi squeezed Alcor's hand, playing with his fingers as she thought. Finally she took a deep breath and let go to sign, her hand finding his again when she was done.

 

_I miss my other cousins. I'm tired of other people dictating my life. I'm...tired of being afraid._

 

“Okay then,” her dad said after a moment. “Game plan: you stick near Al. Stay away from Aunt Karen and her kids – they're adults so they'll probably leave you alone anyway. We're still no contact with them, and them getting to talk to us is what they want. They start anything, and we leave. It's a boundary we drew with them a long time ago, and those are the consequences to their actions we set up then. They want to see us, they have to behave.”

 

Naomi nodded, hair bouncing with the motion, and Alcor tossed them a lazy salute, though the gleam in his eyes was anything but lazy.

 

 

The picnic was going remarkably well. There was a bit off awkwardness around 'Al' at first, but he remained polite if standoffish and danced attendance on Naomi, acting more like an older brother than a friend or bodyguard.

 

Besides, he was entertaining the other kids now too, buried under a pile of them as Naomi watched proudly from her perch in the tree above them, giving the parents a bit of a break. That earned him some brownie points from the rest of the family, and more than a few amused smiles as they played, Al running about with at least one child hanging off of him at all times.

 

Well...most of the family.

 

Karen was sitting in her chair, obviously considering herself a queen upon her throne, though she more closely resembled a toad upon its log. Technically, she was a lovely woman to look upon, but attitudes shine through and make a physical appearance that should have been attractive into something unpleasant to look upon.

 

“I'm just saying,” she was saying to the people around her as she held court, obviously viewing herself as the matriarch and arbiter of what was Right for The Family, “It's just not right. A man? Interested in children? And a man as young as that one? It's not _natural_. A young man like that shouldn't be interested in children. The only ones that are...well, you know what they're like.”

 

“No, we don't know what they're like,” Maurice snapped, knowing he was supposed to be getting into the car but pissed and prodded into a response by her insinuations. “Why don't you tell us where everyone can hear just how your nasty mind works?”

 

Karen sniffed. “I'm just saying,” she repeated. “I told you how to handle all this back then, and we'd have none of this fuss if you'd simply listened. You should have come to family first, if you needed help, Maury dear. These things need to be kept in the family.”

 

“If they'd listened to you, then he'd still be hurting Naomi and probably more kids too,” Rafael, one of Naomi's nearly adult cousins, fired back. “You can't rug sweep this kind of thing, that only makes it worse. She's been incredibly brave this whole time.”

 

Al was visibly bristling but ostensibly ignoring Karen, packing up Naomi's things and starting to urge her towards the car, as per the earlier plan, though it was costing him a lot to not defend himself or Naomi, a fact made obvious though body language plainer than the sunlight bathing them all.

 

“What does that man know about family?” Karen snapped. “Men aren't meant to raise children. If you'd left her with one of us, maybe we could have fixed this foolishness about refusing to talk by now. It's simple stubbornness, that's all it is. You two may be willing to indulge her in this ridiculous facade, but I am not weak like you. A week with me would straighten her out. That man can never be family, he'll never help like family could.”

 

Al stiffened, taking a deep breath, and Naomi looked up at him in worry. He was staring straight ahead, frozen like a statue and faintly trembling.

 

There were a million things that had stolen Naomi's voice, a million things that kept her silent when she wanted so badly to speak, and all the therapy, all the help, wasn't enough yet to unlock her voice, and it wouldn't be for time yet.

 

And yet...and yet, for a moment, the chains were gone and no one was more surprised than Naomi when her voice rang out over the picnic.

 

“At least he's been there for us! You're never there for anybody but yourself! He's more family to me than you'll ever be! He's my big brother, and I love him!”

 

The entire park sat silently stunned at Naomi's outburst, and she stood blinking in shock before clapping hands to her mouth. She tried to speak again but her voice failed her, quailing in front of the stares all pointed in her directions.

 

Al dropped to his knees and pulled her into a tight hug and she buried her face against his shoulder, fighting back tears, as her parents grabbed the last of their things.

 

“Okay, that's enough for today,” Blythe said firmly. “Karen, you know very well why we won't be contacting you, and that goes for your family too. Everyone else, you know where we live. It might be nice to get a phone call we can answer for once. Might have been nice to have those before, too. We're leaving now. My _family_ is leaving now.”

 

Al picked Naomi up, not an easy task considering she was a bit old for that, and carried her over to the car silently as her parents, just as silently, finished packing and they all drove off.

 

 

The car was silent the whole way home, everyone just thinking over what had happened (or not wanting to break into the thoughts of those who were).

 

They pulled into the garage and closed the door quickly, having learned not to dawdle anymore. Still, they sat in the car for awhile after it had been shut down, still silent.

 

“Honey, we're so sorry...” Blythe began, only to be cut off by Naomi tapping the back of her seat.

 

 _I'm not,_ she signed. _I got to play for the first time in ages. It was like everything was normal, just for awhile._

 

Then she glanced up at the demon by her side and signed, _No,_ while a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

 

“I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about,” Alcor said haughtily, hand to chest and face to the air.

 

Naomi giggled. _No nightmares. Save it for...save it for him._

 

Alcor grinned back and ruffled her hair. “I make no promises.”

 

 

Later, as Dipper finished his round of the house and popped into Naomi's room to say goodnight, he paused before kissing her hair. “It wasn't necessary,” he whispered, “but thanks for sticking up for me anyway. Little sister.”

 

Naomi, half asleep, smiled. _Love you too,_ she thought, her mental voice slurred and at the edge of dreams. _Big brother._


	4. Chapter 4

Naomi tried, over and over again, to speak. She tried dredging up the anger she'd felt when Karen had been so nasty and dismissive, she tried sheer willpower, she tried singing along to her favorite songs.

 

The last finally netted her results, and she sang happily and quietly to herself through two songs before her voice protested the sudden overuse. Naomi slid off her bed, about to go and tell her parents, when she felt her voice lock up again, an almost physical sensation, at the thought of speaking to an adult.

 

Tears brimming at the corners of her eyes, Naomi pounded her fists onto her bed. She wanted to _talk!_ She _needed_ to talk! She had to point out her abuser and tell people that he hurt her and she couldn't! This wouldn't be over unless she could just _talk_.

 

So why couldn't she?

 

 

Naomi didn't let on to anyone just how hard she was trying to speak, but Alcor seemed to figure it out anyway, as he was extra cuddly and hovering. Then again, he had been closer to Naomi ever since the family picnic, so it was a bit hard to tell, but Naomi could. And the demon was definitely being extra affectionate lately, but right now, Naomi didn't feel like complaining about it, even if she could.

 

 

Dr. Yesson was the worst. Or maybe the best. Naomi wasn't really sure at the moment.

 

Okay, so maybe she was the best therapist because she was the worst. Or something.

 

Or maybe Naomi was just still feeling a bit upset over her earlier attempts to talk (earlier failures to talk) was was a bit grouchy.

 

“I didn't say it was a conscious thing,” Dr. Yesson said mildly. “Nothing about this is something you're doing on purpose. We all know that.”

 

Naomi shrugged and kept braiding Dr. Yesson's tail. Okay, maybe sometimes Dr. Yesson said things she didn't want to hear, but she was pretty awesome for letting Naomi play with her tail. It had taken Naomi all of five minutes on the internet to find out how touchy centaurs were about anyone non-herd touching their horse halves and to understand how lenient Dr. Yesson was being with her.

 

“I think we need to do some things to reassure you that, just because you started talking doesn't mean you won't see myself or Alcor again. He calls you his little sister now, doesn't he? You still have the necklace he gave you, so he can keep an eye on you all the time. And there are ways to pay for your therapy should the courts or insurance stop, though honestly, that's highly unlikely.”

 

Naomi couldn't respond to that, as her voice still refused to work except sporadically (and most certainly not when she was under stress) and her hands were busy with Dr. Yesson's tail, and letting go now would ruin the complex braid she was trying.

 

Dr. Yesson peered over her shoulder at her tail, smiling as Naomi fastened it off and began searching for a ribbon that would match Dr. Yesson's headscarf. “So, how's the transition to school going? Do you think you'll feel safe going the half day?”

 

 

Later, Naomi was sitting on her bed when she felt the familiar fizzle of energy that let her know her brother was manifesting onto the physical plane.

 

It had been a slip of the tongue that told everyone how Naomi felt about the demon, one that had taken them all by surprise, but Naomi couldn't regret it. Not when he was treating her like an actual little sister.

 

She was tilting over as soon as she felt his weight dip the bed beside her and landed with her head in his lap.

 

His hands settled on her hair, stroking gently as she stared out over her room.

 

They sat in comfortable silence until Naomi thought up at Alcor, _Dr. Yesson thinks I'm scared to talk. That part of me thinks that if I do talk and this is all taken care of, that's when I'll lose her...and you._

 

Alcor's hand paused on her hair. “Do you really think that? That I'm going to leave once this is all over?” he asked softly.

 

Naomi shrugged. _Not...really? Maybe a little? I mean...I know you love me but there really won't be a reason for you to stick around after the trial..._

 

Alcor was silent for a moment before he sat Naomi back upright. She froze, suddenly unsure, when he slipped off the bed and knelt beside it.

 

“I really should have told you this awhile ago,” he said quietly, ears tilted back and looking rather like a scolded cat. “Naomi, what do you know about true names? Especially when it comes to demons?”

 

_They never tell anyone their true names,_ Naomi thought back, a little disconcerted by the sudden topic change but going along with it to humor her brother, if only to keep the dark thoughts at bay. _So people can't try and control them with their real names._ _'s why they all have titles._

 

Alcor nodded. “And technically, Alcor is mine,” he said. “My proper name...I only give that to people when I intend to annoy them for the rest of their lives. Because I trust them, and now they have to put up with me popping in and out and bothering them constantly. Because people I can trust aren't exactly easy to come by, you know?”

 

He smiled up at her again. “My proper name is Dipper,” he said. “I only tell that when I mean to stay.”

 

_Dipper isn't a proper name for a demon,_ Naomi thought through giggles, even as she felt a rush of love for the demon in front of her.

 

Dipper stuck out his tongue at her and pushed back his bangs, revealing a birth mark.

 

Awed, Naomi reached forward and traced her finger over it lightly. _You have the Big Dipper on your forehead,_ she thought almost reverently.

 

“Yeah,” he said softly. “So...Dipper.”

 

Naomi giggled and slid off the bed to hug Dipper. _Hi, Dipper. It's nice to finally meet you._

 

 

Naomi began to improve after that conversation, steadily if slowly. She couldn't really say why it was that having Dipper share his Name with her meant so much (she had slipped and used it when signing to him in front of her parents, and she'd been so terrified for a few minutes, that the first big secret he had trusted her with and she'd already betrayed that trust. It was a minor miracle and more reassuring, more of a promise than he'd realized, when Dipper didn't get angry at the slip, only mentioned that he'd been thinking of telling them sooner or later anyway, but try and remember it was a secret so maybe be a bit more careful about it when outside the house there princess?) but it did, it meant so, so much.

 

For all her progress towards regaining speech was steady, it didn't mean there weren't setbacks. Naomi would manage half a conversation with her parents and her voice would lock up. Naomi would try to speak to Dr. Yesson, an adult she knew and trusted, and found her voice unreliable. It was unpredictable and so very, very frustrating, despite Dr. Yesson's assurances that she was doing well, that trying to force it would only make her more frustrated and, annoyingly, lock her voice shut tighter.

 

Logically, Naomi knew what Dr. Yesson was saying made sense. But it didn't stop her from being discouraged, even though she knew it was silly. She wanted to talk again! Yes, she was managing some speech, but she wanted to talk as easily as she had before...before all of this.

 

The thought of speaking in front of a room full of strangers...a room full of strangers who would be judging her, trying to decide if she was telling the truth, or if they would believe the man who hurt her instead...froze her voice worse than any other thought, and knowing that she had to do this thing, that she was the only one who could go on that witness stand, point him out, and say he did it...

 

Thinking too hard about it sent Naomi into her first panic attack in months.

 

When she calmed she found herself wrapped in dark wings, wings covered in pinpricks of light like the night sky she hadn't seen in so long, her face covered in tears that were wiped away with gloved hands, and she pressed her face to Dipper's shirt before allowing the sound of his breath to lull her to sleep.

 

 

A week.

 

After all this time, a year and a half at the least since Dr. Yesson had called on Alcor for help, and Naomi only had a week to go before the trial.

 

She tried to claim she was ready, but they all knew she wasn't going to ever really be ready.

 

The fact that Dipper had to eat three nightmares in two days was proof enough of that.

 

 

The week passed both far too slowly and far too quickly.

 

All too soon, Naomi found herself staring at the door of a courtroom, sitting in the hallway with her parents and Dr. Yesson to one side and Alcor on the other, wrapped in his human guise. Naomi had a death grip on her mother and Dipper's hands, trying to be brave and not sure she was succeeding.

 

“When are you going to go all demon?” Naomi asked softly, forcing herself to use her voice. If she didn't, she was half afraid it would fail her as soon as she entered that courtroom.

 

“Do you want me to?” Dipper asked, just as soft.

 

Naomi nodded, firmly. “I want everyone to know who I have on my side,” she said.

 

Dipper glanced over at Naomi's parents and Dr. Yesson, who nodded back with varying degrees of certainty. The smile he gave them back held more than a hint of fang.

 

“We'll see,” was all he said. “We'll see.”

 

 

They entered the courtroom as a group, with Naomi safely at the center. According to Dr. Yesson, who had been coaching Naomi on what to expect (it was a bit above and beyond her usual job, but then again, summoning Alcor to protect Naomi had been when that line was first crossed, so this was nothing), Naomi was to sit in the witness stand, tell what had happened to her, or at least as much as she could, and point to the man who did it.

 

Because she was a minor, the defense wasn't going to be allowed to cross-examine Naomi. Though Dr. Yesson warned them that someone might still ask Naomi questions, for clarifications, and that she wasn't to prepare what she was going to say. In a year or two, she could have, but at thirteen, prepared statements were still considered to smack of being coached to point out someone, coached to say things, rather than explaining what had happened.

 

 

Naomi thought she would be terrified, walking into that courtroom. Facing down the man who hurt her...it was why she'd lost her voice. He and his flying monkeys had terrorized her and her family (the harassment trial was going on without her, after finally getting to court), he'd _hurt_ her, and so many times people didn't believe victims when they came forward, but now that the time had come...

 

As she squeezed Dipper's hand again one last time before she had to walk to the witness stand alone, she realized she wasn't scared anymore.

 

Naomi looked back at Dipper as she sat down and he winked at her, that human eye flickering to gold on black for a brief second, and knew she had her backup.

 

 

Naomi refused to look at her molester as she gave her statements. She kept her eyes on Dipper, in the front row, unless she needed to look at the prosecutor as she gave her statement.

 

As they wrapped up, the judge commented, “For someone who was too afraid to speak, you've certainly managed well enough here. Aren't you afraid?”

 

Naomi smiled, an answering smirk on Dipper's face. “My friend is scarier than he is,” she said simply.

 

Dr. Yesson silently facepalmed as nearly every eye in the room turned to Dipper. He grinned, teeth too sharp, ears too pointed, and his eyes flickered from human to demon.

 

That demonic gaze slid to Naomi's attacker and back to the judge, with a raised eyebrow.

 

The judge cleared his throat and hurriedly dismissed Naomi.

 

Dipper walked her and her family, including Dr. Yesson, out, pausing inside the door and shutting it after her before walking back into the courtroom.

 

His shoes echoed as he walked back up to the front, and he stopped, hip-shot, to stare them all down. Tiny wings at his hips, which had been tucked against his back, unfolded to flicker gently at his sides.

 

“If anyone gets any i̵̢̡de͝͞a͘͞s about coming after someone to pin blame on them for me showing up,” he said, sharp demon eyes traveling over the humans in the courtroom who stood frozen under that inhuman stare, “I want it known I showed up on my own. I felt need, and I came. But if anyone here thinks to punish someone, anyone, for associating with me or to take Naomi away from the people who care about her, to 'protect' her from me...” he paused for an unnecessary breath, staring them all down, “I won't be happy. And I'll make sure everyone k͘n͝o̴̧͡w̸͟͢s̵̷͡ju̢st ̸h̸ow ̧un̕ḩap͝py ̡I͝ ̷am, if you understand what I mean. Everyone got it? We're all good?” He smiled, far too sweet, like sugary poison. “Good. I'm glad we had this talk.”

 

He spun on his heel and headed out of the courtroom, waving casually. He paused halfway out open door, looking back at them all, still stunned silent. “Don't forget. I'm keeping an eye on all of them. I'll know if you try anything. S̨o stay҉ away f͞r̡om t̵h̛e͟m. Thanks!” Most of the speech was said seriously, but once again, the end 'thanks' was bright and cheerful and so much more disturbing.

 

The door closed with a final sounding click, but no one inside moved for nearly a full minute.

 

Finally the judge cleared his throat again. “Moving on,” he said, and the trial proceeded as if the earlier revelation had never happened.

 

(There were protests, later on, that they were ignoring the literal demon that had been in the room, why was no one going to go after them, and the judge, at the end of his temper, finally snapped. “Maybe if you and yours hadn't terrified them to the point of Alcor the Dreambender showing up to defend a child, none of this would have happened. So I firmly suggest you sit down and stop talking before I decide to have it investigated to see just why he decided to show up!”)

 

 

The trial wrapped up fairly quickly after Naomi testified...or at least, quickly for the court system. Naomi's testimony would have been enough to put him away without the demon, but with him, well...

 

Sometimes it was better to give the demon what he wanted, when it went along with what you already planned to do.

 

 

The Caligors had a party – small and subdued, but still a party – when the verdict came in.

 

It was for those who had stuck with them during the whole ordeal, with a more private celebration later after the bigger party was over, for Naomi, and her parents, Alisha, and Rose (who started the whole thing, what with being Circle of the Dreamer's Star and helping Alisha call on Alcor, and who looked a bit awe-struck at being in the presence of her god), and of course, Dipper.

 

It was the first time any of them felt truly relaxed since this entire nightmare began. Their tormentors were in jail, and unlikely to be released for a very, very long time.

 

They had restraining orders against those who hadn't gone to jail, and people afraid to try and come against them because of the rumors that Alcor the Dreambender had decided to watch over this family in one of his protective streaks.

 

It was odd that a demon would do that, but that was Alcor for you. Unpredictable and an outlier that didn't always behave the way a demon should, but who had never harmed a child, who took it into his head to protect them instead.

 

 

Despite everything, Naomi was still worried that Dipper wouldn't have as much time for her, now that the trial was over. Dr. Yesson she also wondered about, even though the centauress had made it clear that Naomi was going to still need therapy for quite awhile yet, and that she was going to be that therapist so long as Naomi needed her.

 

At least, she worried until almost a month later and Dipper was still there every day, even if only for a few hours.

 

Dipper smirked at her, upside down, when he sensed Naomi's relief. “I warned you,” he said. “You're never getting rid of me now.”

 

 

Two months after the trial, Dipper blipped into the house, grinning like a maniac. “Hey, Nam, you're not going to believe the rumor I just heard! Just guess who people think you are now!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's the end of Naomi's story...for now, at least. It ended up longer than expected, that's for sure. May come back to these characters someday if there's ideas but for now...hope everyone liked them. :)


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